Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 10, 2016 – Italy recovered from the defeat in the first match to beat Serbia in four sets (25-16, 25-19, 29-31, 25-17). The young talented wing spiker Miriam Sylla scored 20 times in a masterpiece performance.
Italy were looking to gain their first win over Serbia in the World Grand Prix, with their two previous games ending 3-0 in the Serbian's favour. Serbia go into the game having lost their previous three matches in the Grand Prix, with their form patchy, with their most recent loss a 3-0 reverse to Japan, whilst Italy also began with a defeat to Brazil.
Italy and Serbia came on court after being defeated in their opening games of the 2016 World Grand Prix. The Italians started the game in a ferocious fashion with Valentina Diouf and Miriam Sylla leading the squad. On the Serbian side some difficulties with the reception and turnovers were hampering the side as they fell behind on the scoreboard with the block, another feature that helped Italy to the first set that ended 25-16.
The second set started with Italy leading the game and the Serbians struggling with it's reception's, as Sylla continued to shine on service and defending, while Ofelia Malinov was
calling the middle blockers and Anna Danesi and Cristina Chirichella amassing points over the net. Serbia’s hope lied with Jovana Brakocevic and Ivana Djersilo but it was not enough and Italy got the set 25-19.
Serbia needed to win the third set to keep alive the match. It seemed to spur them into action with everything working well, until the Italian block turned on again. Italy's Danesi and Chirichella were sharp by the net giving Sylla and Diouf opportunities to counter-attack and quickly change the currents of the set. The efficient service also was a great source of points for the Italians. With thrilling and topsy-turvy sequence of points with the two sides switching positions at the scoreboard, Serbia won the set with Jovana Stefanovic’s strike, 29-31.The Serbian reaction was more like a glimpse, as the Italians once again switched their service and blocking performance back on, in the fourth set with Chirichella blocking and Sylla defending and attacking, the game turned into nightmare to the Serbian squad. Jovana Brakocevic embraced the responsibility to reemerge Serbia, but it was a hard job to do. With Miriam Sylla spiking Italy reached the set 25-17 to win the match 3-0.